1 | In this image taken from video, defense attorney Tamara Brady, right, gestures during closing arguments in the sentencing phase of the James Holmes trial, in Centennial, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. |
2 | Holmes sits second from left in a light shirt. |
3 | FILE - In this July 23, 2012, file photo, James Holmes, who is charged with killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 70 more in a shooting spree in a crowded theatre in 2012, sits in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. |
4 | Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting case reached a decision Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, on whether Holmes should be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. |
5 | The same jurors rejected Holmes' insanity defense and convicted him of murder. |
6 | District Attorney George Brauchler speaks with members of the media following the reading of the jury's decision that Colorado theater shooter James Holmes will not receive the death penalty, outside the Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo., Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. |
7 | Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury failed to agree on whether he should get the death penalty. |
8 | The family of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes has released a statement expressing sorrow for the victims. |
9 | The short statement was issued by family attorney Lisa J. Damiani. |
10 | It says the Holmes family is unable to comment other than to say they are deeply sorry that victims and survivors have suffered such a tremendous loss. |
11 | A jury of nine women and three men could not reach a unanimous verdict on each murder count Friday. |
12 | That automatically eliminated the death penalty for Holmes, who will be sentenced to life in prison. |
13 | The July 2012 shooting killed 12 people and injured 70 others. |
14 | Holmes' parents, Robert and Arlene, attended each day of their son's trial. |
15 | A juror in the Colorado theater shooting trial told reporters outside court that there was a single juror who refused to give gunman James Holmes the death penalty and two others who were wavering. |
16 | The juror, who did not give her name, said after the life sentence was handed down Friday that "It's a tragedy. It's a devastating result no matter what. I am deeply, deeply sorry - that isn't even the word." |
17 | The jury of nine women and three men could not reach a unanimous verdict on each murder count. |
18 | That automatically eliminated the death penalty for Holmes. |
19 | Defense attorneys blamed Holmes' mental illness for the attack. |
20 | The families of some of the 12 people killed in the Colorado theater shooting, including some who didn't want the death penalty, are defending the work of District Attorney George Brauchler in prosecuting gunman James Holmes. |
21 | A jury failed to agree on a sentence for Holmes Friday, meaning he will be now sentenced to life in prison. |
22 | Tom Teves, wearing a photograph of his murdered son Alex Teves on his shirt, says about half of the families wanted the death penalty so Brauchler was right to pursue it. |
23 | Sandy Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed and didn't favor seeking death, says she has a hard time accepting that sentence for the sake of those among the 70 wounded who live in pain every day because of their injuries. |
24 | She also said it's difficult to think that "this monster" will get to have visits from his parents and pictures from his admirers. |
25 | The families have become a tight knit group since the attack three years ago. |
26 | Dave Hoover, the uncle of 18-year-old victim AJ Boik, says they all will still have hurt in their lives tomorrow but they will also have love. |
27 | The lead prosecutor in the Colorado theater shooting case says he's frustrated that gunman James Holmes didn't get the death penalty, but he praised jurors for doing a "hell of a job." |
28 | District Attorney George Brauchler commended the nine women and three men for sitting through more than three months of grueling testimony without being able to discuss the case with anyone. |
29 | Brauchler recited the names and ages of the 12 people killed by Holmes and said they were at the heart of the case. |
30 | He said he has apologized to the victims' families for failing to win a death sentence and added that he doesn't regret not accepting a plea deal earlier with strings attached for Holmes. |
31 | He says the attack was the type of crime that called out for the community, through the jury system, to be involved in the sentence. |
32 | Brauchler was joined at a news conference by a group of victims' families, prosecutors and police officers. |
33 | Jurors are now free to talk about the case but a court spokesman said none would speak Friday. |
34 | The grandfather of a 6-year-old girl killed in the Colorado theater shooting says the jury's rejection of a death penalty for gunman James Holmes doesn't make sense. |
35 | Robert Sullivan says jurors previously rejected Holmes' insanity defense and he thinks there might have been a lone holdout on the panel that prevented a death sentence from being reached. |
36 | A breakdown of the jury vote has not been released. |
37 | Sullivan says Holmes is living and "our loved ones are gone" but the families of victims will have to abide by the outcome. |
38 | The mother of Colorado theater gunman James Holmes, police officers who responded to the massacre and the relatives of those killed cried as it became clear that Holmes would be sentenced to life and spared the death penalty because jurors couldn't agree on a sentence. |
39 | Arlene Holmes, who had pleaded for her son's life, fell upon her husband's shoulder and began to sob silently. |
40 | Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was shot in the head by Holmes, shook her head "No" and then dropped it into her hands, crying. |
41 | Ashley Moser, whose 6-year-old daughter was killed, sat in her wheelchair after being paralyzed by Holmes' bullets. |
42 | She began shaking her head and lay it on the back of the wheelchair of Caleb Medley, another paralyzed victim. |
43 | Victims' families began streaming out the court before the judge finished reading the verdicts on all of the counts and the wails of their horror and heartbreak could be heard through the door. |
44 | Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting have been dismissed after failing to agree on a sentence for gunman James Holmes. |
45 | The lack of agreement means Judge Carlos A. Samour, Jr. will officially sentence Holmes to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a three-day sentencing hearing starting Aug. 24. |
46 | Samour thanked jurors for their service during the trial which lasted over three months. |
47 | They are now able to talk about the case but the judge stressed that they're under no obligation to do so. |
48 | Colorado theater shooter James Holmes has been sentenced to life after a jury failed to agree on a death penalty. |
49 | The jurors returned the sentence Friday. |
50 | The same jury had rejected his insanity defense, finding Holmes capable of understanding right from wrong when he murdered 12 people and tried to kill 70 others in 2012. |
51 | Prosecutors argued that the former neuroscience graduate student deserved death for methodically planning the massacre. |
52 | But the previously decisive nine women and three men didn't agree on death for Holmes, whose lawyers blamed the attack on mental illness. |
53 | Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting case have reached a decision on whether James Holmes should get life in prison or the death penalty. |
54 | They deliberated for about six and a half hours over two days before reaching a decision Friday. |
55 | The same jurors rejected Holmes' insanity defense and convicted him of murdering 12 people and trying to kill 70 others three years ago at a suburban Denver movie theater. |
56 | During the sentencing phase, the defense told jurors that the shooting was caused by the psychotic breakdown of a mentally ill young man. |
57 | The nine women and three men also listened to the stories of the children, spouses and parents of the 12 people killed and how their lives were changed forever by the attack. |
58 | Jurors would have to unanimously agree for Holmes to be sentenced to death. |
59 | Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting trial will review a graphic crime scene video before deciding whether to give James Holmes the death penalty. |
60 | The panel of nine women and three men asked for the 45-minute recording Friday morning. |
61 | Defense attorneys objected that the gruesome images taken immediately after the massacre would be prejudicial. |
62 | But Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. allowed it and said jurors would only have 50 minutes to watch the tape. |
63 | He warned them not to let it prejudice their deliberations. |
64 | Jurors must decide whether Holmes should be executed for killing 12 during the 2012 assault, which also injured 70. |
65 | Jurors have resumed deliberating whether Colorado theater shooter James Holmes should be sentenced to death or life in prison. |
66 | The panel of nine women and three men deliberated for about an hour Thursday before going home without reaching a decision. |
67 | They continued Friday. |
68 | District Attorney George Brauchler told them death was the only appropriate sentence for Holmes, who was convicted of murdering 12 people and trying to kill 70 more during a crowded midnight movie premiere in July 2012. |
69 | But defense attorney Tamara Brady urged them to have mercy on Holmes, saying his schizophrenia and psychotic delusions drove him to kill. |
70 | Death sentences must be unanimous in Colorado. |
71 | If even one juror disagrees with capital punishment for Holmes, he would be sentenced to life in prison without parole. |
72 | In this image taken from video, a family photo of 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, one of the twelve people killed in the Colorado movie theater attack, is displayed on the screen above, as shooter James Holmes, second from left, in a light shirt, sits as prosecutor George Brauchler, not pictured, delivers his closing argument in the sentencing phase of the Holmes trial, in Centennial, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. |
73 | In this image taken from video, prosecutor George Brauchler, right, gestures to James Holmes, who sits second from left, a picture displayed above showing the twelve victims of the Colorado theater shooting, during closing arguments in the sentencing phase of the Holmes trial, in Centennial, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. |
74 | In this image made from Colorado Judicial Department video, Defendant James Holmes, top left in tan shirt, defense attorneys, top left, and prosecuting attorneys watch as the jury exits the courtroom after delivering their sentencing verdict in the Colorado theater shooting trial in Centennial, Colo., Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. |
75 | Holmes will be sentenced to life in prison without parole after the jury failed to agree Friday on whether he should get the death penalty. |
76 | In this image made from Colorado Judicial Department video, Defense Attorney Tamara Brady, at left in stripped suit, leans into the defense table as Judge Carlos A. Samour, Jr., top right, reads the jury's sentencing verdict in the Colorado theater shooting trial in Centennial, Colo., Friday, Aug. 7, 2015. |
77 | Defendant James Holmes, top left in tan shirt, looks on. |